The present invention relates generally to the field of digital content for the delivery of video, audio and multi-media content, and more particularly to innovations for the delivery of supplementary content that may be of interest to a receiver of a primary content.
The field of digital-content delivery has undergone very substantial changes in recent years. Traditional media included, for example, broadcast television, cinema, physical supports for audio recording and playback, and so forth. These industries have been revolutionized by the ability to store, transmit, deliver and play back content of interest to wider ranges of audiences by digital means. Current technologies include, for example, traditional broadcast technologies, satellite transmission, cable delivery systems, cellular transmission systems, Internet delivery systems, as well as a range of physical memory supports for receiving, storing and playing back content. An area of increasing interest in the field relates to the ability to provide additional or supplementary information and content based upon a primary content that is transmitted, stored or played back on a device, such as a television, handheld device, computer, smart phone, and so forth.
One challenge in the delivery of such supplementary content is ensuring that the supplementary content is related in some meaningful way to the primary content being enjoyed by the users. For example, systems have been developed in which users may, at their own initiation, request additional content, such as while viewing a scheduled television broadcast. The additional content may be requested, for example, by calling a telephone number or visiting a website that appears on the television screen. Other techniques have involve, for example, determining a channel that is currently tuned on a receiver, such as the television, and providing content based upon such knowledge and knowledge of scheduled programming on the channel. Still further, techniques have been developed for delivering content such as advertising, offers and promotions, to audiences that may be interested based upon service subscription, geographical locations, demographic markets, and so forth.
However, the present techniques do not offer a flexible system that can adapt to a wide range of content that may be currently enjoyed by target audiences. In particular, while scheduled broadcasts and programming may be known, by increasingly users make use and draw content from an increasingly wide range of sources, on an increasingly wide range of device platforms and device types, and much of the content is not enjoyed during a known programming schedule.
There is a need, therefore, for improved systems that can accommodate the great variety of sources of primary content, and provide supplementary content that may be of interest to users based upon the primary content. There is a particular need for a system that can perform these functions independent of whether the primary content is currently received or time-shifted, or even stored locally or remotely from the playback device.